Police fired 10 rounds, killed double amputee who was hobbling to flee
The officers involved in the killing of Anthony Lowe have been placed on paid administrative leave.
The Huntington Park Police Department in California is under scrutiny in connection with the killing a wheelchair-bound, double amputee, NBC News reports.
The death of Anthony Lowe last week has sparked a national outcry over the use of force against a disabled person. Cellphone video shows that Lowe, who is a Black man, was attempting to flee when police officers fatally shot him.
According to police, Lowe left his wheelchair and scurried along the sidewalk toward a man whom he stabbed in the chest with a 12-inch butcher knife. He then returned to the wheelchair and fled the scene. Police, who say Lowe still had the knife when they approached him, threatened them and refused to drop the weapon.
The victim, a 46-year-old man, was left with “a life-threatening stab wound resulting in a collapsed lung and internal bleeding,” the Huntington Park police said in a statement. He sustained a collapsed lung and internal bleeding and is in stable condition in a hospital.
According to police, when officers caught up with Lowe after the stabbing, he “ignored the officer’s verbal commands and threatened to advance or throw the knife at officers.”
Police said they attempted to subdue Lowe with a stun gun and after two unsuccessful attempts, they shot him about 10 times.
Bystanders captured the incident on camera but the video does not show the moment Lowe is shot.
Lowe’s family was not informed about his death until the next morning because police thought he was homeless. The family members revealed that police have since given them inconsistent information. “I just want the truth,” said Anthony Lowe’s mother Dorothy Lowe, the Los Angeles Times reports. “Nothing but the truth and justice for my son. My son was murdered.”
Lowe’s relatives want to know why was it necessary to kill him. “I want to achieve truth and justice, because if anybody else would have shot Anthony, with him being a disabled person, they would be in jail now for murder,” said Ebonique Simon, the mother of Lowe’s teenage son, NBC News reports. “They wouldn’t be out taking leave with pay.”
The shooting is under investigation and the officers involved are currently on paid leave, pending the outcome. They have not been publicly identified.
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